I have had so many thoughts to put into this blog in the past few days but very little time or computer access (Matt's been busy proving himself on the new job) with which to do it.
We had a lovely (last) weekend going apple and pumpkin picking with Nathan and Krissy on Saturday and Caleb's second birthday(!!!) on Sunday. We tried Lynd's fruit farm in Pataskala and loved it. They had a hay ride pulled by a 1937 John Deere, which of course the boys asked to sit on, and the gentlemen driver let it idle while they sat. They were all excited - even with the hundreds of tractors they've sat on, this was the first one to actually be running. It amazes me that this continues to excite them so much. Insight into the psyche of boys. Of course, I am continually excited by going clothes shopping. Doesn't matter how many times I've done it. Especially if I have some money to spend! Anyhow, we got sweet pickles and pumpkin butter and pumpkins and huge bags of apples we picked ourselves, and peach cider slushies... mmmm.
Caleb's birthday was very quiet, just the four of us to celebrate. We went to a park and baked him a cake and did our traditional decorating of the table. We take a long sheet of paper or paper tablecloth, cover the table and draw pictures or stamps or stickers and write notes all over it for the birthday person. We put balloons on their chair. It's just our way of acknowledging a birthday without a party necessarily happening that day. He got a little Curious George boat for the bathtub from Ian and a ride on Little People fire truck from mommy and daddy. We were a bit taken aback with Ian's jealousy. The fire truck especially caused problems. He is right on the 45 pound weight limit and too tall for it anyway, but he desperately wants it to be his. I thought we did a pretty decent job of loving him up and helping him feel special too, combined with setting a limit as to how much selfishness we were going to tolerate.
I can't believe my little snuggle bug is two!! His daddy and I delight in him. He is such a precious little guy. He talks to everyone, hugs and kisses everyone freely, doesn't know a stranger. He will lean on me sometimes if I am sitting next to him, and offer "I love you mommy". It is so sweet. Wish I could push the pause button on him.
Monday we had Caleb's two year check up. He's 30.5 pounds and 35.5 inches tall. Perfectly proportioned in the 75th percentile. I know that these numbers don't mean much to some people, but for some reason it has always been fun to me to find out where they stand on the growth chart and how much they've added since last time. It was decided during the course of the visit that Ian would also have his Hepatitis A vaccine and a flu shot just like Caleb. Caleb went first. You'll understand what happened next the best by hearing what Ian told Matt on the phone in the car on the way home. I had called him to give him Caleb's numbers. From the back seat I heard Ian, "I need to talk to my daddy." So I handed him the phone, and he says, "Daddy, Caleb got his shots first today, and he started crying, and mommy was helping him, so I took my chance. I jumped off that table, and I was down in the corner on the floor. And before I knew it I was under the table. I was hiding." I was laughing so hard, silently, in the front seat I almost couldn't drive. "I took my chance." What a nut.
Another interesting story from the weekend: During our visit with Nathan and Krissy we were tasting some sample bottles of port. They had about 2 ounces each and there were four. We went to bed late after a rousing game of Phase 10 and left some things out to clean up the next day. About lunchtime on Sunday Ian said, "mommy, my tummy is starting to hurt." I asked why and he said, "I drank something I wasn't supposed to this morning mommy." I asked him what, and he said "I don't know what it was, but I'll show you." You've guessed by now, it was the port. And from what was left I could tell he'd only taken one little sip. The thing about it is, he clearly knew he did wrong. He put it all back the way he'd found it so we wouldn't be able to tell. He even understood that drinking things you're not supposed to could make you sick, and was basically waiting for the hurt tummy feeling to begin, but still not telling me what he'd done. Next time we certainly will be cleaning up after ourselves a bit better!
